


Not Merely Conjecture

by mlraven



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Communication, Confessions, Crew as Family, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-06 08:09:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13407048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mlraven/pseuds/mlraven
Summary: In the middle of the five-year mission, Jim and Spock move in together.





	Not Merely Conjecture

**Author's Note:**

  * For [midsummerjay (avioletqueen)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/avioletqueen/gifts).



> Happy Chocobox!
> 
> I saw your request for slice of life, and I couldn't resist. :)
> 
> Title from Meitnerium haiku by Mary Soon Lee (http://vis.sciencemag.org/chemhaiku/).
> 
> Thanks to anonymous for the awesome beta :)

When Jim and Spock move in together, they quickly discover that the small idiosyncrasies that they found charmingly frustrating when their quarters were only connected by a shared bathroom are unbearable now that they both live in a single, cohesive space with no available retreat.

Spock finds himself in the labs so frequently that his second-in-command asks, xer voice hushed, whether the crew’s performance has been substandard. Spock assures xer that no, the crew is performing admirably, but that he finds himself with time on his hands, and what better way to spend it than by interrogating the science division’s latest conjectures? He's engaging with the sciences!

Xe looks at him a bit dubiously, but bows xer head and leaves him to it.

Jim alternates between hiding in Bones’s office— only temporarily effective, as Bones inevitably kicks him out with a “Go back to your hobgoblin!” —and holing up in the smallest observation gallery, the one that’s labeled as a storage closet on all the _Enterprise_ plans.

Jim and Spock do such a good job of avoiding each other that it takes almost an entire Standard month for them to notice that _neither_ of them seems to linger in their quarters.

In fact, they don’t notice on their own.

Bones lures Jim to his office with the promise of good whisky, and Uhura ambushes Spock in a hallway and drags him to the nearest rec room for a pot of reconstituted Vulcan tea.

Once they’ve inhaled the earthy steam and taken their first sip, Uhura settles back against her chair and fixes Spock with a look.

“I take it you haven’t told him,” she starts.

Spock raises an eyebrow.

“To what are you referring, Nyota?” he says, feigning polite ignorance.

She sighs. “You’re avoiding Jim. You’re making excuses to be in the lab during gamma shift, so you’re not even spending your sleeping periods together. Are you sleeping at all?”

Spock looks away, silent for a long moment.

Eventually, as if the words are being extracted by force, he says, “I did not realize that his habit of leaving dirty uniforms on the floor of his quarters would continue once _his_ quarters became _our_ quarters.”

“Have you considered _telling_ him that it bothers you?” Nyota asks carefully. She pauses, deliberating, then adds, “I have it on good authority that Bones is having a similar chat with him as we speak, though I suspect theirs contains more alcohol.”

Spock’s gaze snaps back to Nyota’s face. “Jim feels this, too? About...me?” His voice holds guarded hurt.

She sighs.

“Just talk to him, Spock,” she says, patting his shoulder as she leaves the rec room.  
  


 

He goes back to their quarters, with only a short detour to the closest botany lab.

He breathes in the humid, loamy air, relishing the sensation of being surrounded by so much verdant growth. He closes his eyes, trying to internalize the lush calm of the plants, rustling softly in the artificial wind.

One of the hardest parts of a five-year mission is the sterility of the starship.

He pauses outside the door of their quarters, then palms the door open.

Jim is perched on the edge of his desk, fiddling with the old-Earth artefacts displayed there. He looks up when Spock enters.

“Hey,” he says, gaze flicking away. “I hear we need to talk.”  
  


 

Afterwards, Spock asks Jim to comm Bones to express their gratitude. He whines, because he knows Bones will say _I told you so_ , but Spock presses their foreheads together and gently reminds him that they have Bones and Uhura to thank for heading off their miscommunication early.

“I cannot bear to imagine what might have happened if we had left this to fester, _t’hy’la_ ,” he says softly.

Jim twines his hand with Spock’s, caressing Spock’s palm with his thumb, tracing Spock’s lifeline with the side of his nail.

Spock takes a shaky breath; Jim’s playing dirty. “Perhaps the acknowledgement can wait…”

Jim grins, and tugs him back down onto their bed.


End file.
